Discussion

Beer Revolution - New Beer Bottle/Tap Room in Oakland

We checked out Beer Revolution in Oakland on their opening night (a couple of weeks ago). They were still filling out the refrigerator cases, but appeared to have a nice selection of interesting bottles. I believe they have twelve taps, often with a local focus. The first night we tried the Valley Uperhoppy (very good ... Valley Brewing is doing some good things), Ale Indusries Fuzzy Snobeck, Iron Springs Dark Path Lager (good), and Linden Street Bill Brand Amber (not that impressed). Although they have more taps than City Beer, I still prefer the bottle selection and vibe there to Beer Revolution. Beer Revolution is larger, with a great outdoor deck, but feels a little less, well, lovingly beer-geek than City Beer. More like some guy's basement bar that just happens to have a bunch of taps. Nonetheless, a great addition to the East Bay beer scene.

How can this place call themselves a "Revolution" when they have only 13 taps and one of them is Gordon Biersch? I mean...I might just be being a former Philly resident (we are suuuuper spoiled there when it comes to beer....) here but the tap list doesn't look that impressive to me. Am I missing something? City Beer on the other hand is WONDERFUL.

Eh, it's not City Beer. Not even City Beer East. And I agree that Gordon Biersch is not a worthy tap filler. But they generally have an interesting tap list, a ton of bottles, and a more beer-centric focus than your typical bar. Maybe not as beer-geeky as some places, but I'll forgive them an overly optimistic name in return for bringing another beer stop in the East Bay (particularly one with bottles to go).

@MaddyK: If memory serves right, you are a recent transplant and I am going to guess you never visited CBS when they first opened. It took them some time to become the store they are today.

I like the fact that Beer Revolution is emphasizing some of the lesser known local breweries such as Iron Springs, Ale Industries, Santa Cruz Mountain Works, and Linden Street. They also are carrying stuff from Odonata, a great up and coming brewery from Sacramento. The couple that runs it are both really nice people too.

Heck, if you're feeling homesick, they even have DFH 90 Minute if you want to have a malty east coast style double IPA.

Well, it's different from the Trappist -- focused on local beers on tap (compared to belgian and belgian-style) in a more industrial warehouse setting with outdoor seating (compared to historic saloon/bar of the Trappist). Plus you can get bottles to go. If I could only go to one, I would probably pick the Trappist (unless it was one of those nights that it is so packed that getting a beer is near-impossible), but luckily the close promixity makes a combined Trappist-Beer Revolution outing doable.

I was there 2 weeks ago and was very impressed by the way they've stepped up their taps and filled their cold cases. Prices are very good and service is friendly. I can see this place becoming a destination very quickly. As much as I love City Beer, Beer Revolution has the potential to be even better: more taps, more cold cases and a larger bar, plus the nice patio. What impresses me the most about Beer Republic is that like Craig and Beth at City Beer, Rebecca and Fraggle are becoming part of the Bay Area beer ecosystem. Case in point: they're getting Moonlight Brewing beer like Death and Taxes while other pubs, including Public House at AT&T, are still on the waiting list. The taps rotate frequently, which is always a good sign. Today, they have Lost Abbey Angels Share , Ommegang Hennepin , Port Brewing Hop 15 , Bison Chocolate Stout , Black Diamond Imperial Porter , Devil`s Canyon Silicon Blonde , Dempsey`s Pale Bock , Ale Indistries Fuzzy Sno Beck , Hebrew Origin , Fish Tale organic Amber , Half Moon Bay Moon Glow Barley Wine , Lagunitas W.T.F , Lagunitas IPA

dropped in here briefly recently. saw they have an entire frige of belgium and belgium-type beers. other fridges had micros i've never seen before...(been to bevmo too often)...the abbey(10.99) stout was smooth and outstanding! (limit 1)

was informed draft beers change daily. on the weekends, it's intraday. free parking a block away if one can find one.